Chapter 23 Family dinner

Chapter 23 Family dinner

Lilith’s POV
Swallowing hard, I collected the phone from him, turned it on and navigated to the call log. Jayden wasn’t disturbed in the slightest. He crossed his arms and stared at me, waiting for the call to connect.
I still got chills from our last encounter at the wedding and since then, I didn’t want to have anything to do with him. My heart hammered against my ribs as I found the call history and tapped the name. I hit the speaker icon and listened as it rang, hoping he wouldn’t pick up.
It rang for a while and just when I was about to be relieved he wasn’t going to pick, the call connected.
"Celine?" His unmistakable voice rang out, making my blood run cold. I lost my voice for a moment but when Jayden gave me a hard stare, I began speaking immediately.
"Hello... Dad," I whispered. I glanced at Jayden, who remained perfectly still, his eyes narrowed as he listened.
"I saw the interview," Mr. Lark began. He didn't sound happy, but he didn't sound like he was shouting either. There was a pause as I wondered if he had noticed I wasn’t his daughter. "I saw the way you looked at that man and I saw the way you stumbled over your words about Paris."
I opened my mouth to defend myself, but he cut me off with a laugh that was far from comforting.
"Cut the act, Celine. You might have fooled the reporters and the idiots watching at home, but I know you and I know when you are faking it. You always were a terrible liar when it came to your personal feelings. That whole display of affection was the most silly thing I’ve ever watched you do."
The worst part of this all was the fact that I didn’t know the kind of relationship Celine had with her dad. Also, I wanted to know if he had approved of the marriage because clearly, he had something against Jayden that none of them was willing to say out loud and I was too scared to ask. I threw a glance at Jayden, expecting him to panic as well but he only listened without saying a word.
“Dad—”
"However," Mr. Lark interrupted, his tone shifting slightly. "The documents arrived yesterday with every single one of them intact, just how it was when you stole them. I must admit, I didn't think you had it in you to listen to my words, given you’re often rebellious and for that, I have decided to let my anger go. Consider our previous... disagreement... settled for now."
Immense relief washed over me as I released the breath I’ve been holding since the call started. Jayden also looked relieved.
“Thanks so much, Dad—”
"But don't think you are off the hook entirely," he added, his voice becoming cold again. "If you are going to be the wife of a man like Jayden Smith, we need to present a united front and so, I want a family dinner. I want to see the both of you together.”
My heart stopped. A dinner? In person?
"Schedule a date for next week," Mr. Lark commanded. "Bring Jayden along. I want to have a proper look at the man who you willingly stole from me for and got married to, even after my warning.”
My mind was thrown into overdrive.
“But Dad—”
“Don't make excuses, Celine,” he interrupted, cutting me off. “Fix a date for next week and get back to me. Do not say you forgot, you hear me? If I wait for a couple of days and you don’t get back to me, I’ll fix a date myself."
When the call ended, I stood frozen for a moment as I wondered how we were going to handle the situation. Even if we have managed to fool the whole city, there was no fooling the father of a child.
I looked at Jayden who looked deep in thought. Why do I have to suffer this way? All I wanted was some peace and quiet but it was the exact opposite I always got. Mr lark was one bone that was stuck in my neck and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake him off.
"A family dinner," I whispered, looking at Jayden with a look of panic in my eyes. "He knows I was faking, Jayden, he knows too much and I think this is his plan to expose us.”
Jayden heaved a sigh, before looking back at me.
"He knows Celine was faking," Jayden corrected. "But he doesn't know you aren't her. There’s a big difference.”
“How is your relationship with Mr. Lark?” I questioned. Because in all of this, Mr lark seemed to suspect mostly Jayden who did nothing to get on the man’s good side. “He doesn’t like you, does he?”
“He doesn’t because he believes his daughter is only after my money, which is partly true.” Jayden began. “He just thinks his daughter is playing a part for my benefit and that works in our favor."

Was he being serious right now?

"How does that work in our favor?" I snapped, unable to understand his logic. "He wants us to come to his house! I don't know the layout of his home, I don't know his favorite drink, I don't know anything about their history! He will know the difference only five minutes into the dinner." Now, I was panicking. I was the one who would be answering his questions, while Jayden would sit and fold his hands, watching in amusement.

I already got into trouble over the documents that I knew nothing about and now that it was solved, I was about to get into an even bigger trouble.
I started to pace the room as I thought of what could happen if we were actually caught. If I got dragged down with Jayden, who was going to take care of Ariel? My late parents left her in my care and so far, I was barely doing the duties of a responsible big sister.
As I pondered on my thoughts, Jayden walked up to me, stopped me from pacing by holding my shoulders, before looking into my eyes. "You won't be caught because I will be there and we will do this together, like always."
“But how?” I asked.
“Tomorrow, I’ll get the layout of the Larks' home so we can study it. I’ll get all the needed information as well so this will go smoothly. You are going to learn everything about the Lark family.”